We're Friends, Right?
by Shade the Hero
Summary: He visits the site every year, only this time it's raining and that's not the only difference.
1. The Rain

_This could easily be a one-shot, but it also has the potential to become a full-fledged story. I'm not sure which option I'll go with, but for now I figured this has been sitting on my computer for almost two years. It's about time I share it with others. I actually have a few 'Zack survives' ideas that I've been working on, but this one not only shows the most promise, but also had the most written for it. I think I may only upload one other version though, because it's different from this one, even if it shares similar moments. I just can never make up my mind when it comes to story plots sometimes. That or i'm either lazy or over critical of my own writing. I really am my harshest critic. u_u_

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and please, let me know if you want to read more. I'll be happy to continue this if you want me to. :)_

 _Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and all of its lovely characters belong to Square Enix. I only claim the plot._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **We're Friends, Right?**

Another year had gone by. It was two years after the events of Omega and three years after Sephiroth's last defeat. Many things had changed and for once it was all good. The city of Edge was strong and becoming a large metropolis similar to how Midgar had been, only this time there would be no reactors surrounding them to make the people feel caged in, no plates towering overhead to block out the sun and no sectors to separate the people. For once they were free.

The New Shinra Company had slowly begun to build a new reputation for itself. Rufus still didn't fully grasp the idea of what the people wanted, but he was a far better man than his father had been. To his annoyance the WRO was more loved by the people. It was headed by its CEO, Reeve who had proven to the people that they would be there during a crisis as they had in the past.

Other businesses were doing very well in the city, including a bar known as the Seventh Heaven which also served as the headquarters for Strife Delivery Service. The rain was pouring hard outside keeping patrons inside. The bar maid was keeping herself busy mixing drinks and cooking the food that her customers would order. One of her regulars turned on the juke box in the corner and raised his glass. "Come on Tifa, How 'bout joinin' me in a dance?"

With a knowing smile she poured a drink for another customer and slid the drink over to him, "Now Miles, you know I'm working, besides what if a cute girl walks in and see's me with you? She may think you're taken,"

The man laughed and slapped his leg, "H'aw yer a sweet girl, always puttin' others before yourself,"

Tifa shook her head as the man carried on dancing. There was different reason why she didn't dance with him, aside from the fact that he wasn't her type and listening to the sound of the engine cutting off from outside she could tell that the reason was about to enter through the front door.

He came in soaking wet and looking like he had just climbed out of a river. Taking one quick glance at him Tifa could tell he hadn't been having a good day. Cloud sat down on one of the stools at the bar and slouched over the counter, letting out a tired sigh. Today had sucked. Three deliveries and while they hadn't been very far out he was stuck in the rain for most of the afternoon.

"I take it you'd like something stronger than the usual?" Tifa asked him without needing an answer, though a grunt from the blonde had told her all she needed to hear. She went to work mixing the one drink that she knew would take the edge off; The Nibelheim Special. A drink she had learned to mix in their hometown. She had tweaked it a bit and added a few of her own ingredients to make it even more unique and it was much stronger than any of her other drinks. In fact it was so strong that only a person with mako running through their veins could handle it.

She slid the glass over to him who took a swig, shaking his head afterwards and getting the man next to him wet from the water that flew from his drenched spiky hair which was laying flat from the soaking he had gotten. "Why'd it have to rain today?" he asked to no one in particular. "Of all the days it had to be this one."

Tifa wiped a glass with a clean rag before offering him a small dry towel. "Well, at least you're done for the day. If you'd like I'll make you some hot soup if you wanted to dry off upstairs?"

As much as Cloud wanted to accept her offer he shook his head, "Can't. I have one more stop to make."

Tifa tilted her head, "But you only had three deliveries today, where else do you need to go?" But Cloud was already getting up and heading for the door. "I'll be back soon," he promised and then he was gone. Tifa could sense there was something bothering him, but it was up to him if he wanted to talk about it. She wouldn't pressure him. He was definitely a lot better now than he was in the past.

She was about to take what was left of Cloud's drink and pour it down the sink when two men hurried in and closed the door behind them, "Shinra SOLDIERS!" one shouted to the other patrons.

"Where?" asked one man, "Outside. There's only one, but it looks like he's comin' this way!" The others gathered by the windows to peer outside. Tifa looked up, wondering what Shinra wanted now and why were they sending a SOLIDER? Why not just have one of the Turks call or have Reno stop by? Unless this guy was from the old Shinra in which case…

Tifa pulled out her gloves and strapped them on, not knowing what to expect, but wanting to be prepared all the same as she watched the entrance. The man slowly opened the door and stumbled inside. He looked like he had gone through hell and he was soaking wet, his eyes glowed in the room that was dimly lit compared to outside. He definitely had mako. As Tifa went to approach him he clutched his chest and coughed, droplets of blood splattered on the floor as he gasped for breath and collapsed. Tifa hurried over and knelt down to check for a pulse. She found one, but it was weak.

Rolling him over she tried to get a good look at him only for her eyes to grow wide with surprise. She knew this man!

 _. . ._

Cloud rode out to the cliff overlooking the ruins of Midgar. It was something he did on this day every year. Even if the sword that once stood in the ground was now polished and sitting in the old Sector Five Church this cliff was still an important place for him. It was where his best friend had given his own life to save his in a final stand against an army of troopers. With a bitter feeling welling up within him Cloud remembered. It was raining that day too. The day that Zack died and with his final breath declared Cloud was to be his living legacy. So much had happened since then, but Cloud had kept his promise.

Today marked the anniversary of his friend's death and every year Cloud paid his respects by visiting the place where Zack had fallen. When Cloud arrived he was surprised at the sight that greeted him. The field of flowers that had begun to grow over the years had spread out from the spot where the sword had once stood. Cloud liked to think it was Aerith's way of honoring Zack, but now the flowers were dead; every single one of them. It was as if the lifestream had drained all of the life from them.

Cloud didn't want to put too much thought into it. The land around Midgar was still barren and anything could have caused the flowers to die. He didn't want to read too much into it and hoped it wasn't a bad sign of something to come. Things had been going so well lately that he didn't want anything to change that. With a heavy sigh he knew that trouble had a nasty habit of finding him. The only thing he could do was to make sure he was ready for whatever storm lay ahead.

A rumble of thunder brought him out of his thoughts as he looked up at the sky. The clouds were getting darker, but thankfully it only meant that the sun was setting. The rain wasn't showing any signs of letting up however, and there was a chill in the air. He stood there for a minute more to finish paying his respects before heading back over to Fenrir. He put his goggles on and revved up his bike before taking off.

When he got back to the bar he was surprised to see it closed early. Tifa never closed before eight unless something was wrong. As he parked Fenrir in the Garage he opened the hidden side compartments of the bike revealing the several blades that made up his Fusion Sword. Taking the blades, he combined them into one before carefully heading inside, not knowing what to expect.

When he entered the bar he saw Denzel sitting at one of the empty booths. He looked up as he saw Cloud enter. "Denzel, what's going on?" he asked.

The boy looked worried, but didn't move from his spot. "Tifa and Marlene are upstairs," he began, "there's a man who's hurt pretty bad and they're trying to help him. I stayed down here to clean the floor." He hesitated for a minute and looked down at his glass of juice. "I finished that a while ago, but I was afraid to go back up there so I…"

"You wanted to wait for me?" asked Cloud.

The boy nodded.

He felt bad for the kid, knowing he had gone through a lot in the past. After what happened with the Remnants and GeoStigma Denzel had become a lot more open about his past to them and told them of the tragedies that he had seen which started from the collapse of the Plate in Sector Seven when he lost his parents. Everything seemed to get worse from there and the boy had seen so much death it was amazing that he was this strong.

But time heals all wounds and so does a supportive family. Cloud placed a hand on Denzel's shoulder as he walked by, "I'm going to go check on them, but I'll be back down shortly."

"Okay," the boy replied and Cloud made sure he was alright before heading upstairs.

Being careful not to make much noise he headed up the stairs and listened into the room that was Cloud's office. He could make out voices as two sets of feet shuffled around the room. "Marlene, I need you to put some pressure here while I get some more gauze. Good, now please hand me that roll of bandages over there,"

"This one?"

"Yeah."

There was a high-pitched moan as the man winced in pain, "Shh, it's okay," Tifa cooed, "you're going to be alright, but we have to remove these bullets. I know it hurts, just hang on a bit longer. We're almost done."

Cloud was about to reach for the doorknob when he heard Tifa give Marlene another order, "Marlene, I need a fresh bowl of water,"

"Yes Miss Tifa, I'll be right back," with that the door opened as the little girl exited the room carrying a bowl of dirty water that was tinted red. She almost bumped into Cloud, but he had taken a step back.

"Cloud!" she shouted with a relieved smile.

"What's going on?" he asked.

The little girl didn't want to be rude, but Tifa needed the water quickly. She headed towards the bathroom, "A man came into the bar and collapsed. He was bleeding real bad and Tifa says he has several bullet wounds to his chest. She's trying to get them out, but it's not easy. The wounds keep wanting to close and she has to keep them open so she can get all of the bullets out."

"Wounds don't heal that fast," Cloud told her, confused.

"His do," she replied. "I think it's because his eyes glow, kinda like yours do sometimes."

That got his attention. "Marlene," he began to ask, but stopped. She was still young and probably wouldn't know if the man had been in SOLDIER. "Never mind, I'll find out for myself." He waited for Marlene to finish getting fresh water before opening the door for her and following behind.

His office had been turned into an emergency room as he looked around and saw all of his things had been pushed to the side. Several sheets and towels had been placed on the floor where the man was laying, but Cloud couldn't get a good look since Tifa was hovering over his chest, trying to remove another bullet.

Another moan escaped the man as she worked, "I'm sorry, I know you're in pain, but I'm almost done. I have to get this one out, it's too close to your heart."

Marlene set the water down next to Tifa who nodded her thanks, but didn't turn. She had to stay focused if this man was going to pull through. Cloud just stood there and watched.

The man winced in pain as she worked. Tifa was trying to be careful, but this bullet was stubborn and she had to concentrate. One wrong move and it could nick his heart or damage his lung. "I need you to keep still," she told him before she noticed Cloud in the corner of her eye. "I could use your help," she told him.

The blonde swordsman removed the sword from his back and set it to the side, knowing now that it wasn't needed. "With what?"

"Hold him still while I try to remove the bullets. Poor guy is full of them!"

Cloud moved over and knelt down next to her before trying to get a good look at the man she was helping. A towel was covering his face to prevent him from seeing his own injuries and freaking out. Still, it didn't take a doctor to see the seriousness of his wounds. His chest was a red mess of blood from the multiple gunshot wounds. It was a miracle he was even still alive, even if he was in SOLDIER.

Cloud held him as still as he could while Tifa worked. She safely removed the one bullet and quickly went to work with the others. She was going to leave them, since the man had been moving too much to remove them safely, but with Cloud's help it made it easier for her to work. During the next half hour she had removed twenty-three more bullets. During that time Cloud had sent Marlene to check on Denzel. He felt bad that he hadn't gone back downstairs to check on him like he said and Marlene was still young and didn't need to see this level of trauma yet.

By the time she had removed the twenty-third bullet the man's breathing had become shallow and he had grown paler. Cloud noticed his struggles had become weaker. "Tifa, I think he's…"

"He's just tired," Tifa replied, but she reached over to her first aid kit and pulled out a Restore Materia and cast Cure. The wounds began to heal faster and the man didn't look as pale. "I didn't just spend the last two hours saving his life for him to die on me now. Besides, He's already suffered enough."

Cloud got up and headed for his office phone. Tifa looked up at him, "What are you doing?"

"Calling for an ambulance," he replied. Now that Tifa had gotten the man stable he could be moved, but Tifa got up and pushed down on the receiver. "Tifa?"

"There's a reason why I didn't send for one first. His record lists him among the dead,…and there's something else."

"Something else?"

"He needs you to help him through this, Cloud. No one else can do it."

Cloud gave her the most confused look until she let out a tired sigh and knelt down by his head. "I think he's passed out, which is a good thing. If he saw you, I think it might be too much for him, I'm still not sure how you'll take it," she told him.

The warrior stood there, blinking at her, he was torn between curiosity and nervousness. Tifa looked up at Cloud as she touched the cloth that was covering the man's face, "Promise me you won't freak out?"

Cloud nodded in response and she pulled back the towel showing the man's face. Cloud's entire world came to a sudden halt. Laying there in front of him was Zack! Cloud took a step back, but couldn't tear his eyes away from the warrior before him. How was Zack alive? Why did he have these injuries? It was too close to what happened to him that day, years ago when he died on the cliff. Cloud had to search his memories, afraid that for a minute his friend really hadn't died, No. He had definitely died on that cliff. So, how was he here?

"Cloud?"

He looked up to see Tifa giving him a worried look. "I-I'm alright," he stammered; voice shaky. If he was being honest with himself, he wasn't alright.

 _ **. . . .**_

The next morning sunlight filtered in through the blinds of the window in Cloud's office. The dust danced in the shafts of light. Down on the floor Zack slowly opened his eyes. He slowly blinked and stared up at the ceiling for a moment before memories from yesterday came back to him. He had been in pain, making his painful trek from the wastelands surrounding Midgar into the settlement that had become Edge. He didn't remember it being there nor did he remember Midgar being in ruins. His only focus was to find help for his injuries. He remembered stumbling into a building before doubling over and that was it. There was a voice he remembered; someone calling to him, telling him it would be alright. She reminded him of some of the instructors back in Shinra HQ, coaching him through his training.

The pain he had felt last night which had been so sharp and unbearable was now reduced to a dull ache in his chest and it hurt every time he took a breath, but at least he was alive. If he had survived the night than he figured he'd be okay. As his vision became clearer Zack decided to take a look at his surroundings.

Turning his head he saw a tire in the corner of the room. A motorcycle tire from the looks of it, there was a desk in the far corner that looked like it had been pushed aside, probably to give him more room. There were pictures on the walls and a message board cluttered with notes and papers. This was probably someone's office he assumed. Looking over towards the door he saw something that jolted him fully awake. Sitting, slouched over with his back against the wall next to the door was his best friend!

No, Zack had to be seeing things. Spiky wouldn't be in a place like this, but after carrying the guy around for almost a year he'd know that spiky blonde hair anywhere. It had to be him! What was he doing here? Zack had to check on him, hoping that he was alright. He sat up, but clutched his chest with one hand and let out a cry of pain.

Hearing the painful cry, Cloud's head shot up as he looked over at his friend. The blonde hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the long day he had had the previous day combined with the long night of watching over his friend had tired him out. That didn't stop him from hurrying over to his friend's side when he saw him in pain however.

"Take it easy, you've been through a lot."

Zack focused on getting his pain under control before looking over at his friend. Pain or no pain, nothing could hold back that smile. "Spiky? You're alright?"

"Yeah,"

"You beat the mako poisoning, you came out of it!"

With a slow nod, Cloud finally understood what his friend was getting at. In the last moments of Zack's life Cloud had just begun to come out of his comatose state. "Yeah," he replied, "thanks to you."

Zack waved it off, "Bah, you beat that on your own. All I did was keep you alive long enough for you to snap out of it." He smirked at his best bud with a wink before letting out a painful cough.

Cloud gently pushed him back down, "Yeah, well it's my turn to look after you now, so just lay back and relax. You've still got some healing to do."

With a painful nod Zack did as his friend said. "Don't worry Spiky, I'm not goin' anywhere. It'll take a lot more than that to kill this ex-SOLDIER."

Cloud hid a knowing smile, "Yeah, I know."

Zack took another look around the room, "So where are we?"

"In my office," Cloud simply replied.

Zack arched an eye brow, "No seriously, where are we?"

"In my office," Cloud repeated this time in a more serious tone. "A lot's happened in the past few years."

"What are you talking about, Spiky? It didn't take me more than a day to get to the outskirts of Midgar, even with these injuries."

"Zack,…" Cloud tried to tell his friend as easily as he could, "several years have passed since we were attacked on the cliff."

"That's impossible," Zack said.

"It's true, and a lot has happened since then."

"Like what?"

Cloud wanted to tell him all that had happened, but he didn't want to aggravate his friend's injuries. "When you're feeling better I promise I'll tell you everything, right now all you need to know is that we don't have to worry about anyone else coming after us, You can rest easy."

Zack wasn't happy that he was being kept in the dark, but he trusted his best friend. "Okay Spike, but once I'm recovered I want to know the full details."

Cloud smirked as he stood up, "You got it."

He headed towards the door, "I have to check the on the kids, but I'll be back soon." With that he left with Zack's wide eyes watching him go in surprise. "Kids?!"

Downstairs Tifa was making the kids breakfast when Cloud entered the kitchen, sat down at the table and covered his hands over his face in an act of frustration.

"How is he?" asked Tifa, looking up from pouring Marlene some juice.

"Awake and as curious as the energetic puppy that he always was," Cloud replied. "He doesn't realize how much time has passed since that day on the cliff and I have no idea how he'll react to the news when he hears how long it's been."

"Want to tell him together?" she offered.

Cloud cast her a thankful glance, "It'd probably help coming from more than one person."

Tifa sensed it was more than that. He probably needed someone to be there when he told his friend to help them both through it. Tifa remembered another time when she was needed to help Cloud through past memories and she was only too willing to help him through it again.

The swordsman looked over at Denzel next, "you alright?"

The boy nodded before looking down at his plate. He had barely touched his breakfast. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine," Cloud replied, "he's tougher than I am."

"I doubt that," Denzel replied only to realize too late what he had said out loud, "I mean, that is…um…"

Cloud just smirked and ruffled the kid's hair.

A few hours later, after the kids had left for school Tifa had gone upstairs to check on the wounded warrior while Cloud was keeping an eye on things downstairs. Ever since Cloud learned that his friend was back among the living he had canceled his deliveries for the next couple of days. He knew that there wasn't much he could do to help, but there was no way he'd be able to carry on business as usual so soon, at least until his friend's injuries had healed more. His condition was no longer critical, but those were still some serious wounds.

When Tifa came down he looked up from serving a drink to a customer. "How is he?"

"Asleep and his chest still hurts, but that's only to be expected. Even with mako it'll take a few more days before he can start moving around."

Spinning a bottle in his hand he poured a drink for another customer and slid the glass down to him. Tifa tilted her head, impressed. "Well, someone's been learning some neat tricks."

Cloud merely shrugged, "It's no different from spinning my sword."

Tifa leaned into him as she passed by, "You'll have to teach me sometime." He tried to hide the slight blush that tinted his face by pouring a glass for another customer, but Tifa saw it. "Oh, I forgot to get some extra towels from upstairs, you mind getting them for me?" she asked as she headed towards the kitchen. Cloud nodded and headed upstairs.

When he passed the door to his office he heard a noise coming from inside, deciding to check on his friend first he poked his head inside only to open the door wide and enter. "What are you doing?"

Zack had been using the office chair to help him stand up, but it wasn't exactly easy. As the wheels gave into the pressure and moved forward Cloud hurried over and caught the wounded SOLDIER before he fell. "I forgot how stubborn you could be!" he said as he caught him, throwing one of Zack's arms over his shoulder to help him stand up straight so as not to aggravate his injuries.

"I can't stay in one place for very long, you know that. I'll be fine, I just gotta stand up and stretch. Maybe a few squats will help me feel better."

"Do you have a death wish?" Cloud asked, annoyed.

Zack only let out a quiet chuckle, "Well, I did have one thought up to be honest. I mean, I didn't think I was going to make it off of that cliff alive."

Cloud helped his friend sit down in his office chair before locking the wheels, making sure it wouldn't roll away again. Cloud couldn't bring himself to tell his friend the truth, not just yet. Instead he just kept quiet and let Zack talk, which he did.

"I wonder what to do now that I made it back to Midgar? I remember we talked about bein' mercenaries, but now that I'm here it don't sound that appealing. Maybe I can be a handyman or something."

"I know a place that has an opening," Cloud informed him. "It pays good and you'd get to travel a lot."

"Really?" asked Zack, sounding very interested. "Do you have the number?"

With a smirk, Cloud took one of the business cards sitting on his desk and slid it over to Zack who picked it up and read it. There was a logo of a motorbike with the words _'Strife Delivery Service'_ written on it, below the logo was the slogan: _You name it We deliver it._

Zack thought about it for a moment, a delivery service. It sounded like a good job and it sure beat working in an office all day. That's when realization hit him as he looked at the card more closely, "Hold on," he looked over at his friend, remembering that Strife was Cloud's last name. "You mean it?"

Cloud simply shrugged, "I've been getting a lot of business lately and it's not always easy trying to keep up with orders. I haven't really thought about hiring anyone else to help, but if you want the job it's yours."

There was a creaking sound and before Cloud could blink he found himself pulled into a crushing hug. "YOU'RE THE BEST SPIKY!"

"Zack,…your injuries," Cloud grunted under the crushing grip. He had forgotten how it felt to get a bone-crushing bear hug from his friend.

"It's worth it," the dark-haired man replied as he laughed, trying to hide how much it really was hurting. A giggle behind the door alerted him to know they weren't alone and he let go, finally allowing Cloud to breathe.

Cloud hadn't heard it as he rotated his shoulder, "First rule, no crushing the boss."

Zack pointed to the door behind him and Cloud turned to see Tifa leaning against the door frame. "Oh, don't let me interrupt. Please, go on,"

The blonde felt a bit embarrassed while at the same time hoping she hadn't seen too much. "I think we should bring him up to date on the current events tonight after the bar closes and the kids are put to bed."

Tifa nodded in agreement. "I'll close up early then, if that's the case."

Zack once again found himself at a total loss, "Since when do you have kids?"

 _ **. . . .**_

A few hours later the three were sitting at one of the empty booths in the bar area. The kids had already come home and had been asked to go to bed early by their guardians and they obeyed. Cloud felt bad about not explaining what was going on, but he promised he'd make it up to them. He and Tifa had just finished telling Zack all that had happened since the ex-SOLDIER's death. Now Zack was sitting there in silence as he tried to take everything in. It was a lot and Tifa wondered if it had still been too soon to tell him.

"Are you alright?" she finally asked.

"It's just,…for once I don't know what to say. I mean everything that happened, all that you guys went through,"

"Don't worry about us," Cloud told him, "We've had time to cope, how are _you_ taking all of this?"

"I…I'm glad I'm sitting down," he replied. "I mean, Sephiroth coming back, that whole ugly mess with Deepground and then what happened to Aerith?" He clenched his hand on the table as he tried to control his grief over her loss. Somehow he couldn't help feeling that part of it was his fault. Because he hadn't been there to save her. That's when another hand placed itself over his shaking fist. Zack looked up at his best friend who held nothing but complete understanding in his eyes.

"I know, Zack. Believe me; even if you had been there there was nothing you could have done. I was standing right in front of her when Sephiroth struck her down."

"He's blamed himself enough times for it too," Tifa added, remembering the guilt he had carried around for two years after that event.

"Well, I don't blame you," Zack replied. "We both know what that man was capable of, I'm just glad he's finally gone; same with Shinra, at least the worst of it."

"I still don't fully trust Rufus," Tifa admitted, "but he's definitely done a better job than I would have expected."

"He keeps to his own agenda," Cloud told her, remembering when the new president had asked him for his help when the Remnants appeared. Rufus had mentioned that he knew there were children living with the delivery boy, it was a tactic used to win Cloud's sympathy, he still remembered the new president's words, _"I understand there are children living with you, don't you want to put smiles back on their faces?"_ However Cloud could also sense a threat behind those words. He knew Rufus was the type of person who wasn't above kidnapping. Especially with the Turks under his command. If the man became desperate enough he would most likely try to use the kids against them. Something Cloud would kill him for if he tried.

"He can be trusted as long as the outcome benefits him in some way, but I wouldn't put my complete trust in him."

"Never turn your back on a member of the Shinra family," Zack added, fully agreeing. "So, is there anyone else we have to worry about? With Sephiroth and the old president dead and that whole Deepground thing taken care of, is there anything else to worry about?"

"I wouldn't exactly say I wouldn't be surprised if some new threat came along, but there's no one else I can think of that would be starting trouble."

"Are you sure Hojo's dead?" asked Zack.

"He's dead." Cloud's reply was solid, there was no doubt in his mind that the mad scientist was gone, both his body and now whatever was left of his mind. "After Vincent told us that he had blended his mind with the leader of Deepground Reeve developed a kind of antivirus that travels through every computer and if it finds any trace of Hojo it purges the system and wipes it out."

"Good, now I can rest a little bit easier," replied Zack, letting his shoulders sag a bit.

Cloud and Tifa exchanged relieved glances. Zack was taking the news a lot better than they both expected.

" _Soo_ ," Zack asked in a mischievous tone, getting their attention, "you two have kids now?"

"Uh," Cloud and Tifa looked at each other before Cloud looked away, trying (but failing) to hide the blush while Tifa let out a small giggle. "Not exactly," she replied, saving Cloud from any further embarrassment. "Marlene's adopted father is a friend of ours and we took Denzel in when he didn't have anywhere else to go. We've more or less treated him as our own after Cloud found the cure to GeoStigma."

"That's cool," Zack replied.

Cloud turned to face him, "That's all you have to say?"

At this, Zack gave his friend a mischievous grin, "What, you wanted me to tease you about how red your face is?"

"Wha, well no, but," Cloud stammered, but Zack's laughter cut him off. "Relax, Spiky. I'm just havin' fun, you're so serious, I'm just tryin' to loosen you up."

Tifa just sat back and smiled. Already she was seeing how much good this was doing for Cloud to have his friend back in his life. With such an easy-going optimistic personality it was easy for Tifa to see how he had kept Cloud alive during their time on the run. "So Zack, what are you going to do now?"

The ex-SOLDIER folded his arms in thought, "Well, aside from my new job I'm not really sure," he just shrugged at the thought, "I guess I'll just take it one day at a time just like before."

 ** _. . . ._**

The next day Zack had slept in, courtesy of a sleeping pill given by Tifa the previous night. She wanted to make sure his injuries healed properly and it wasn't easy when he kept aggravating them by moving around. Cloud was right; he was just like an energetic puppy. Cloud had left to run some urgent high end deliveries for a costumer that lived in a nearby town. Now it was just Tifa and Zack alone in the house. She kept herself busy by cleaning up the bar and checking her stocks. She'd have to make a run to the store in the next few days.

While Tifa was busy downstairs, Zack had decided to look around upstairs. Looking around the kids' room he couldn't help but notice the large statue across the way of an angel with wings that seemed to be watching over the bar. Zack just stood and stared at it for a while trying to figure out why he had been sent back and why now years after his death? That brought up a new question and it was something that really bugged him.

Tifa had just finished washing the glasses and getting them ready for tonight when she heard the bar door open. "Sorry, we're closed. Come back at four."

Something cold pressed against her back and she looked up, "Don't move," came a gruff voice. Tifa knew that was the barrel of a gun pressed against her back. "What do you want?"

"Shut your mouth," he replied harshly. She glared hatred at the man who was still behind her, but didn't move. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Not so tough without that biker freak hangin' around, are ya?"

He jabbed the gun harshly into her back, "Gimme all the cash you got in this dump!" Tifa nodded, "Alright, You win, just don't shoot!" Tifa wasn't afraid of this guy in the least, if only he didn't have a gun she'd turn on him and give him a kick that would send him flying out the door, but if Zack's SOLDIER hearing was anything like Cloud's than he'd hear her from almost anywhere in the house if she was loud enough.

She slowly made her way over to the cash register and went to punch in a code to open it. "C'mon, move faster. If yer stallin' for that freak to return I'll bury a bullet in your spine!"

A hand suddenly grabbed the guy's neck and gripped tightly, cutting off the man's air supply. The man gurgled and his hands began to shake.

"Drop the gun," came a low tone and Tifa slightly turned to see the glowing blue eyes of Zack Fair casting a deadly glare at the armed robber. The man quivered under the ferocious gaze and dropped the gun which clattered to the floor. Zack kicked it away and Tifa turned to fully get a look at her attacker. "I remember you; I kicked you out almost two weeks ago for stealing wallets from my customers."

"You alright?" asked Zack as his gaze softened towards her. She nodded and his cold gaze returned to the man. "I'm sorry, I wasn't gonna shoot her, I swear! I just wanted the gil!"

That's when Zack lost his cool, "You want gil than earn it honestly! Don't steal it from others who bust their ass for it! People like you make me sick! And pulling a gun on someone? How low can you sink? Scumbags like you disgust me! Thinking you can take gil from others just because you can? Maybe I should just snap your neck, just because _I_ can?"

"No, please don't!" the man begged, but Zack ignored him and tightened his grip, the man gurgled more before Zack pulled him into a headlock and twisted his neck. The man went limp and Tifa gasped. Zack didn't really just kill him, did he?!

Zack looked up and smiled, "Don't worry, I just used the ol' sleeper trick. He's not dead. I fooled him pretty good though, didn't I?"

Tifa let out a relieved sigh, "yeah, you had me fooled too."

Zack stood up after laying the man down on the floor, "Sorry, but I had to make it look good, I mean what kind of friend would I be if I didn't repay the one who saved my life?"

Tifa smiled up at him. She completely took back everything she originally thought about the SOLDIER in the past.

* * *

 _Update: Because everyone seems to want me to continue this, and your reviews were so amazing, seriously they made me cry happy tears. (You guys are awesome, thank you!) So, I am happy to announce that I will be continuing this. I don't know how often and I have to put together a decent plot, since I never really thought past this chapter to be perfectly honest, but I have done some brain storming and what I've come up with so far is promising, even though the plot's not completely figured out, I like where it's going. :) It may take me a bit to bring out the next chapter and I will also focus more on details and surroundings, plus dive deeper into the minds of the characters (because I definitely see where I left out on that.) I look forward to writing this story and I hope you all enjoy it as the chapters come out. ^_^_


	2. Too Many Questions

_Hello everyone. I know I said it before, but I'm truly thankful for all your wonderful reviews for the first chapter. I don't know if any other chapter will be quite as long as the first, but I'll try to make them decent sized. This chapter is less action and more about how the characters are dealing with their new circumstances. Also, there's one part of this chapter is happened behind the scenes, but I'm thinking about writing a humorous one-shot for it. Especially since there seems to be a good number of Zack and Tifa fans out there. And no. This is not a Zerith pairing. It's not really Cloti either (yet anyway) *cough* ^w^;_

 _I did pay attention to your suggestions and the little hiccups you guys pointed out. Your reviews were really helpful. As stated before I do not have an uploading schedule for this story, it's more on the side when I'm not writing for the other 10 million tales I'm working on. I'm exaggerating, but it feels like that much. xD_

 _I'm still wrestling with a few ideas, but otherwise this story's plot is set. I hope you like what I have in store. Oh and for the line breaks, the three dots in the center will serve that purpose._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

The rain continued to pour on him as he crawled. The ground was muddy, making it hard to drag himself forward, but he had to keep going. He couldn't afford to stop. He was afraid that if he did he wouldn't be able to move again. He still wasn't sure of everything that had happened, but he knew that he had been unable to move for a long period of time. That much was easy to tell by the way his body felt so heavy as if he had been cursed with a gravity spell. His head was still foggy and his memories were impossible to recall. Only one thought remained clear in his mind. He needed to get to Zack.

Cloud only remembered seeing his friend walk away into the light of the wastelands and out of sight. Then he heard voices coming closer. They were the enemy and they had found him, but he wasn't worth the effort to recapture. He remembered hearing one saying he'd be dead soon enough. That had angered Cloud and had managed to help give him the strength to move. He would prove he wasn't weak. What worried him were the sounds of battle in the distance. As he started out the sun was shining brightly and the sounds of battle were constant. Gunfire, chopper blades, missiles, the clang of swords and ricocheting bullets, the sounds were clear as day. As he got closer the clouds rolled in bringing the rain and the sounds of battle grew less frequent.

The choppers were gone, but gunfire still echoed in the air. Cloud tried to stand, but his efforts were rewarded with a face-plant and mud in his mouth. Spitting it out to the side, he got back up and continued crawling. Finally he came upon the battlefield and saw bodies littering the area and all of them from Shinra. He hoped that was a good sign until he noticed how quiet it was. Hopefully that meant Zack had been victorious. However when he got there he saw his friend lying on the edge of the cliff, gravely injured.

He made it over to him and fought to sit up, and with a herculean effort he was successful. Looking down at his friend he wasn't sure if he was still alive. His eyes were wide open, but they were unseeing. Cloud knew he had to try something.

" _Z…Zack?"_

His efforts were rewarded with a grunt as Zack flinched. He tried to rise, but he had no strength. The last three soldiers had done what the other two hundred couldn't. Zack was dying. However seeing his friend awake and moving gave him hope and helped him accept his next choice.

Cloud knew the memory well. His hair, stained with Zack's blood from Zack's last attempt to embrace him, pulling him close and telling him he was going to live for the both of them. Handing Cloud his sword and bestowing his legacy onto him. And finally Zack's last breath as he closed his eyes.

Cloud looked up to the sky and let out a purely heartbroken scream.

That scream always woke him from his nightmare. Cloud didn't have that nightmare very often anymore, but every time it reoccurred he had to check his surroundings to help anchor him to reality. That dream was always so painful and vivid he might as well have been back there in that moment. The effects it had on him differed every time. Once he had woken up to see Tifa staring back at him with a worried expression. She had said he had been screaming and the worst part was she had caught him crying as well.

This time he had thankfully woken up before it could get that bad. Pulling off his sheets he headed to the bathroom to splash water into his face. He stood over the sink for a minute trying to collect himself. He had plenty of night terrors to choose from, but it was this dream that often troubled him the most. Many times he tried to figure it out and it always led back to the same conclusion. It was the moment of Zack's death that had caused him to make the biggest mistake of his life and his most bitter betrayal.

Right after making the promise to Zack he had forgotten the SOLDIER completely, putting himself in the warrior's place instead. It wasn't truly his fault, but it still felt like he had spat on his friend's memory.

Looking in the waste pale Cloud saw the remains of Zack's last bandage change. That's when he remembered the past three days. That Zack was alive. It sent an indescribable relief through him, and yet he couldn't help but wonder how his friend was revived and why? Was this Aerith's doing? Or was she just as much in the dark as he was? Did Zack know anything or was he just as clueless as the rest of them? There were way too many questions to figure out at two in the morning and Cloud was exhausted.

Stepping lightly, he made his way back into Tifa's room. She had let him sleep in there while Zack still occupied his office which doubled as Cloud's bedroom. He was careful not to wake her as he climbed back into bed and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.

It was so strange having his friend back in his life. At times it was so easy to fall back into how things were before. How it became so easy to crack a grin or laugh at Zack's antics. But other times it was like he was staring at a ghost. By all rights Zack shouldn't be here, but he was and a few times Cloud didn't know how to act around him. Zack had the same injuries as the day he was killed. Did that mean he hadn't aged? Was he still twenty four? That would mean that Cloud was now older than him, which was a weird thing to accept since he had originally been two years younger than Zack.

Something tugged at his arm and Cloud looked over to his right and noticed Tifa had wrapped her arm around his. Her eyes were closed, but he could tell she was awake. "Everything's fine," she murmured, "go back to sleep."

Cloud offered her a small grin before acknowledging her common sense. Even mostly asleep she was always right. He placed his hand on hers before closing his eyes and drifting back to sleep that was thankfully dreamless.

 _ **. . .**_

The next morning Tifa came to check on Zack and redress his bandages. The SOLDIER was already sitting up in bed and she could tell he was pouting.

"Something on your mind?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I hate it."

"Hate what?" she asked as she brought up the chair and sat down in front of him while untying his dressings.

"I hate sitting here and doing nothing. I want to be moving around and helping."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "You helped me yesterday. That man never got the chance to hurt me because of your quick actions." She left out the part where she could have handled herself, but she wasn't about to injure his pride further.

"Yeah, and you saw how exhausted I was after," he retorted bitterly. "I can't even remember the last time I felt this weak Tifa. Not even in my days as a cadet training for SOLDIER."

"Zack, you're badly injured. It will take time to heal and get your strength back, even for someone like you."

Zack however wasn't as optimistic. "This morning I got dizzy just trying to stand up. Shiva I'm pathetic!"

Tifa only shook her head as she removed the bandage from around his torso. "Have you forgotten how much blood you lost? You can't just get it all back over night. I still think going to get a blood transfusion may not be a bad idea."

"No, no more doctors," Zack firmly replied.

Tifa looked down at the clean dressings on her lap. "Cloud was the same way. He hates everything to do with doctors. Even a visit to the WRO's medical wing sets him on edge."

"It's all Hojo's fault," Zack replied. "If he hadn't been such a nut case none of this would have happened."

"Zack, there was no way you could have known back then," she tried to tell him, but he shook his head.

"You don't get it! Before everything spiraled out of control, before the damage was irreversible, Genesis tried to kill Hojo, but I stopped him. I actually protected the bastard!" He gripped the bed rail and looked down at the floor, replaying the event in his mind.

"I could have prevented so much if I had just let Genesis finish him off back then. Sephiroth wouldn't have gone crazy, Cloud and I wouldn't have been taken prisoner, we wouldn't have needed to run, all because I was too stupid to see the truth."

Tifa placed a hand on his shoulder and lifted his chin as if he were a child. "Listen to me, there was no way to know what would happen. And you're not stupid." Looking towards the door to make sure they were alone she turned back to him. "This is a very sensitive subject I'm about to tell you, so please, don't repeat it to Cloud."

He slowly nodded and she began while applying the fresh bandages. "Back when Sephiroth still had a hold of Cloud's mind Hojo appeared before us and Cloud begged him for a number."

"What," asked Zack, startled.

"Sephiroth had convinced him that he was nothing more than a puppet; a clone to be used. Hojo didn't help by calling him a failed specimen. Cloud was desperate to be something so he asked Hojo for a number to identify himself as. He wouldn't listen to reason when we tried to tell him the truth."

Zack winced as Tifa accidently pressed too hard on the gauze covering the wound closest to his heart. "I knew Hojo had messed with his mind, but that's an entirely new low for that psycho."

Tifa nodded as she continued. "When we found him again he had been pulled from a pure mako spring and the doctors said he would only babble nonsense. I stayed with him while the others continued their search for Sephiroth. He was suffering from severe mako poisoning. He would speak, but only a few words and all of them were about Sephiroth or asking Hojo for a number. It was painful, but I did everything I could to help him through it. I finally did and was able to help him piece his real memories back together. That's when he remembered you."

Zack smirked at her. "He's lucky to have someone who cares about him so much. You know, during the Nibelheim mission he talked about you a lot."

"Really?"

He nodded, "Yeah, he kept beating himself up because he felt ashamed for letting people down just because he wasn't a SOLDIER."

"Yeah, he told me about that when he confessed to the group about who he really was," she replied. "Alright, you're good, just please…"

"I know I know, take it easy," he waved his hand knowingly. "He stood up and stretched a bit, testing his strength only to wince as it put a strain on his injuries. Tifa only rolled her eyes and shook her head.

 _ **. . .**_

Cloud had left a few hours earlier in order to see Reeve at the WRO headquarters. He was curious about something and hoped his friend would have some answers. The guards at the front gate of the compound raised their weapons at the approaching motorcycle before they recognized him and immediately lowered their firearms.

"Welcome back Mr. Strife," nodded the first guard while the second guard waved for the gates to be opened.

Cloud returned the nod and waited for the twenty-foot tall iron bars to slide open before driving into the compound. He parked Fenrir by the front entrance and passed through the sliding glass doors.

Making his way to the front desk he nodded towards the woman sitting there.

"Good morning Mr. Strife. I take it you're here to see President Tsutei?"

"Yes," he replied.

She was about to call his office when the phone rang. She answered it. "Front desk…yes sir…yes sir, I'll send him right up." She hung up then and smiled at Cloud. It's nearly impossible to surprise him these days. He's waiting for you in his office."

Cloud huffed with amusement, fully agreeing with her. Before heading for the elevator he looked at the security camera and gave his watching friend a two-finger salute. When he arrived at the correct floor he exited the elevator and came up to another desk. He wasn't surprised to see the girl behind it.

"Shelke," he greeted.

"Hello Cloud, Reeve's expecting you," she replied without looking up from her work. It was amazing how well she could multitask, but with her abilities she handled it like a pro.

He made his way down the hall and towards his friend's office. It wasn't his first time here and yet he still couldn't get used to how large the office was. A pent house would be a better name for it. Passing through the glass doors he found himself in more familiar territory as a number of books and paperwork were stacked in various places. Reeve was a brilliant man, always coming up with new inventions and ideas to make life better for everyone. It was one of the reasons why he had become a board member for Shinra; however he was the black sheep of the black-hearted group. He was outraged with their choices, but was powerless to do anything about it. That all changed when he met Cloud and his friends.

The blonde finally made it to Reeve's desk after navigating through a maze of unfinished plans and a few inventions that looked promising. Reeve smiled as he looked up from the paper he was reading. "Cloud, I wasn't expecting a visit so soon. Why don't you pull up a chair, that is, if you can find one." He added looking embarrassed about the mess.

Cloud easily found it and carefully placed the large stack of manila files onto the floor before pulling the chair over and sitting down. "Don't you think you've gotten a bit carried away Reeve?"

The older man rubbed his temples before chuckling. "This time, I believe you're right. I guess you could say I'm trying to make up for the past fifty years of Shinra's mistakes."

"Midgar wasn't built in a day," Cloud replied. "You don't have to bury yourself in work to avoid burying yourself in guilt. Trust me, I've tried it and it doesn't work."

Reeve looked up at him and smiled with a nod. "You've got a good point." Setting the paper to the side he gave Cloud his full attention. "What can I help you with?"

Cloud thought about how he wanted to ask his friend. "We learned a lot of things on our journey to save the planet, but there are still some secrets the planet is hiding."

Reeve's smile vanished as he tried to work through those words. "You're not suggesting…surely there're only so many times he can return."

Cloud got up and walked towards the window. "No, it's not him. But someone did return from the lifestream."

Reeve heaved a sigh of relief. It was nice not having to worry about an attack from Sephiroth. "Who then, do you mean she…"

"No," Cloud replied sadly, "an old friend of mine."

"The SOLDIER who helped you escape from Hojo?"

Cloud nodded. "I don't know how, because I wasn't there when it happened. Tifa said he stumbled into the bar badly injured. I was already heading out to the cliff where he had fallen and realized that something was wrong. Flowers had begun to grow on that spot and spread outward. However when I arrived they were all dead."

He shook his head at the idea of it. "I know it's not enough to go on, but I don't know how else to explain it."

"No, it makes sense," Reeve reassured him. "It stands to reason that the lifestream cannot simply bring someone back to life. When Sephiroth returned last time he needed a host. Kadaj had to sacrifice himself to allow Sephiroth to appear. Perhaps the Lifestream did the same with the flowers. After all, flowers are living things too."

"But why? Why did Zack return?" Cloud had tried to figure it out on his own, but he kept getting nowhere. "It can't be because the planet was saved. That's happened twice already."

"Three if you count the event with Omega," Reeve added.

Cloud thought back to that event. When the souls of the planet were being absorbed and collected. The WEAPON would have taken the souls from both the living and the lifestream and left to find a new planet if Vincent hadn't been there to stop it. By using the power of Chaos he stopped the WEAPON and the souls returned to where they belonged.

"Could that have done it?" he asked Reeve. "When the souls were released, could that have been the reason?"

I don't see that being the main reason," Reeve replied. "But it could have been part of it. Perhaps during that time Zack's soul had become aware of what was going on and tried to return. It may have taken some time for enough flowers to grow to enable him to pull it off. Or perhaps someone else intervened."

"You're talking about Aerith?" Cloud asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time she's preformed miracles from the lifestream," he replied.

Cloud thought back to the last time he spoke with her. He had just defeated Sephiroth and the remaining remnants had overloaded their materia, causing an explosion. Aerith had found him drifting along the border of the lifestream. He remembered feeling her touch his forehead and felt his injuries healing. He heard both her and Zack teasing him before sending him back. And then after healing Denzel from Geostigma he saw her walking towards the doorway of the church where Zack was waiting for her. It made Cloud wonder if Zack remembered anything from his time in the Lifestream. It was something to ask him when he got home.

"What do you think this means Reeve?"

The older man folded his hands and leaned his chin against them. "I think it's too early to tell, but we'd best be prepared. It's very rare when something good happens out of the blue. Right now there's nothing that can be done, other than enjoy the fact that a friend has come back into your life. I can't begin to imagine what you've both gone through before we met, but my advice is to make the best of it."

 _ **. . .**_

Cloud thought about Reeve's advice all the way home. Parking Fenrir, he sighed in defeat, having gained nothing except more questions and mysteries. He had hoped his friend would have shed a bit more light on the subject, but he was thankful that Reeve had offered to look into it and call him when he found something.

Stepping inside the bar he was surprised to see Zack slumped over at the counter. Tifa walked out from the kitchen then and placed a plate of food in front of a customer. Cloud approached her and looked over at Zack. The SOLDIER was out cold, but breathing evenly as if he were sleeping.

"He wouldn't stop trying to help," Tifa offered. "All the while he kept saying he had to get back into shape. He was going to push himself too far and I didn't want him to reopen his wounds so I cast a sleep spell on him."

"It's not easy for him," Cloud replied. "Several years are missing from his life and before that he spent a year on the run, fighting to survive no matter how he felt. It didn't help that I was about as useful as a sack of potatoes at the time."

"Ugh, not you too," Tifa whined.

"I'm just saying it's going to take some time for all of us to get used to this. I tried asking Reeve what he thought…"

"And what did he say?" she asked.

"He's not sure either, but he's going to look into it." Cloud replied. "He also suggested that the incident with Omega might have had something to do with it."

"That would make sense," she replied. "A lot of souls were gathered before Vincent stopped it. And if that's the case then who's to say that Zack's was the only soul that returned?"

Cloud's eyes widened as he looked straight at her. "What are you saying Tifa?"

"I'm saying that maybe it's time we take a road trip."

 _ **. . .**_

That night Cloud sat up on the roof of their home. It was the best place for Cloud to be alone, yet still be around if his family needed him. Looking up at the night sky he let out a slow sigh as his mind wandered.

Footsteps told him he was no longer alone as he turned to see Zack making his way over. The warrior blinked when he realized the roof was already occupied. "Sorry, I didn't realize this was such a popular spot."

Cloud just shrugged as the ravenette sat down a few feet away. He had wanted to spend some time to sort out his thoughts, but it was hard when he was sitting next to what felt like a ghost. In the past whenever Zack would come to him Cloud would feel relieved, now he had no idea how to feel. He wanted to follow Reeve's advice and enjoy spending time with him, but it was hard when the past kept haunting him.

"You know," Zack started as he looked up at the stars. "The skies cleared up pretty nicely. I remember Midgar's pollution being so bad you could hardly see the sun sometimes. It always seemed so cloudy and it was really bad in the slums. I swear I could almost taste the tang of mako given off from the vapors that would seep from the reactors. It made a lot of the slum folks sick."

Cloud remained silent, not sure what to add to the conversation. He knew how fowl the air had been and had noticed the change over the years. It was still dangerous to go near some areas, but it wasn't as bad now that GeoStigma had all but disappeared.

Zack sighed and closed his eyes before smiling. "You came up here to be alone and here I am bugging you." He got up with a grunt of pain and huffed with what seemed like amusement. "It's funny. Everyone I've talk to at the bar keeps saying how strong and fearless you are, and I have no doubt that it's all true, but there are some things that haven't changed. You're still quiet and shy just like you were as an infantryman. I knew you went through a lot over the years, and it changed you, but I'm glad that the spunky chocobo I met way back then is still in there."

He started to go back inside when Cloud turned. "Zack, wait."

"Hm?" the warrior popped his head back up and blinked at him. "What's up?"

"There's somewhere I need to go tomorrow and I think you should come with me."

Zack gave his friend a mischievous smile. "Finally done ignoring me?"

Cloud suddenly looked down, ashamed. Zack only laughed. "I'm just kidding! I mean I was worried something was wrong since you kept avoiding me, but I figured it was just something you needed to work out. I mean, it's not like it's the first time you've given me the silent treatment. I think I'd have to do something really rotten to make you break that year-long record," he added with a wink.

"You're not annoyed?" asked Cloud.

"Pfft no. You have issues to deal with. I get it. I mean, it's not every day your best friend comes back from the dead, though to be honest I expected a party."

That made Cloud huff with amusement.

Zack's smile only grew. "Hah, got you. And Tifa said you don't laugh easily. That wasn't too hard. Now don't stay up too late. I expect you to get some decent shut eye."

"You still think you're my commanding officer," asked Cloud.

"You bet your spiky hair I still am. I may not be a SOLDIER anymore, but I'm still a First Class. I worked hard to earn that title and I'm going to keep it."


	3. Butting Heads

_Hello my readers. I normally would not have uploaded this chapter so soon, but I finished it and didn't see any sense in holding on to it, especially since you guys seemed to enjoy the last one. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and wanted to keep it going, but decided to stop at a good point._

 _We still see the two friends trying to figure out where to go from here, but they're working it out, even if they butt their heads every now and then. That's only expected since they're both so stubborn. After reading your reviews I'm only more inspired to write more for this. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, so I tried to make this one nice and long._

 _Enjoy!_

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Zack woke up early that morning. Making sure not to wake anyone he tip-toed into the bathroom. He carefully untied the bandages wrapped around his chest and torso so he could get a good look at his injuries. He examined each healing bullet wound carefully to make sure nothing seemed infected, not that he didn't trust Tifa's healing abilities, he was just being overly cautious. It was a habit the formally careless SOLDIER had quickly formed while on the run.

After checking all of them he nodded his head with satisfaction when they all seemed to be healing nicely. Leaning closer, he examined the wound closest to his heart. This was the one that still hurt the most. The others bugged him a bit, but it was this one that always tugged and pulled whenever he tried to move around too much. It wasn't just the skin and muscles getting stretched, it felt like something more, but he hoped the mako in his system would take care of it in time. That's all he needed was time and thanks to a miracle from the blue he had all the time in the world.

It still made him stop and take a moment to appreciate that fact. He had been in so much pain fighting on that cliff, but he wasn't going to quit. He'd never quit. Finally after the massive force had been defeated he stopped to catch his breath. He had been injured, sure. No SOLDIER could come out of a battle with odds that highly stacked unscathed, First Class or not. But it was those last three that had come out of nowhere that had caught him off guard. He remembered trying to move and strike them down, but his moves were sluggish. They saw him advancing and opened fire. He had no protection. Buster Sword deflected some of the bullets, but several found their mark. Pain erupted like fire wherever he was struck. Eventually his strength gave out and he fell. The three advanced and continued to shoot him even thought he was no longer a threat.

He heard them move off and looked skyward, waiting for death to come when he heard someone calling to him. He wondered if it was someone from the lifestream when he recognized that voice. It was one he hadn't heard in a long time but he could point it out anywhere. He grunted with pain and looked over to his right to see Cloud looking down at him. Despite his pain, Zack felt so much joy seeing his friend finally awake and moving on his own. He was even more relieved that the pursuing forces didn't spot him. Zack remembered giving Cloud his sword and passing on his honor and dreams to him, but the rest was all a blur. The next thing he knew he had woken up in the rain and he was hurting so much, but he was alive. It was so painful to stand, but he managed and forced his feet to take him to Midgar, or what was left of it. He was losing blood fast and it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

The door slowly opened and Zack felt something small bump into him. He turned and looked down at the young boy who was rubbing his eyes. "Sorry Cloud, I didn't know you were up this early."

Zack smirked, "He's not. I've always been an early riser."

Denzel blinked and looked up, only to take a step back. "I'm sorry, I thought-"

"No worries. You're Denzel, right?"

The boy nodded and Zack extended his open hand.

"Zack Fair, First Class."

But Denzel was too busy staring at Zack's injuries to return the gesture. Zack looked down at his bare chest and chuckled sheepishly. "It's not as bad as it looks. Tifa's a good healer. I'll be back to full strength in no time."

The boy slowly nodded as he took another step back. Zack felt bad for scaring him and was about to say something else when a slight noise came from Tifa's room and Denzel took his chance to dart back into his bedroom. The ravenette sighed in defeat before returning to his room.

Tifa appeared in the doorway ten minutes later holding the old dressings. "How are you supposed to heal properly if you don't keep these on?"

"They were itchy," was the only defense Zack could offer as he pouted like a little kid.

Tifa gave an exasperated sigh as she unraveled a roll of fresh dressings. "Denzel never gave us this much trouble when he was sick."

"Remind to apologize to him later, will you?"

Tifa stopped what she was doing then and gave him a confused look. "Why, what happened?"

"I might have scared him earlier when he saw my wounds. I think it was too much for him." Tifa could tell Zack was troubled by it. She wanted to say something in the line of 'I told you so', but knew that now wasn't the time for that.

"Denzel's seen his fair share of death. When you first arrived he was worried if you were going to make it or not."

"He's a good kid," Zack replied. "A bit shy, but there's nothing wrong with that. He reminded me of someone else who was a bit shy at first. Well, after we left the other slowpokes behind that is. Tseng tried to hide it, but I could tell he was winded."

Tifa smirked, knowing who he was referring to, but kept silent on the matter. "I'm going to make sure these are travel worthy. Cloud said he wanted to take you somewhere today."

"Yeah, he mentioned that last night. I wonder where we're going."

"With Cloud there's no telling, but it must be important if he doesn't want to wait for you to completely heal."

"Pfft, I can handle it. No one else can say that they outran the Turks for a year, and it wasn't even them that caught up to me." Zack seemed pretty proud of himself but Tifa only shook her head as she finished wrapping the clean bandage around his torso and tying it tightly, causing Zack to wince. "Ow! Easy," he whimpered.

"Sorry, I just want to make sure it doesn't come loose. I can only imagine he'll be taking Fenrir and I doubt he'll be driving slowly."

 _ **. . .**_

After she finished dressing his wounds, Tifa lead Zack into her bedroom. The warrior was a bit surprised to see that Cloud was nowhere in sight. "Wow, how does he do that?"

"Do what?" asked Tifa as she began rummaging through her closet.

"Get up and leave without making a sound? My ears are mako enhanced and I didn't hear a peep!"

Tifa just shrugged as she answered, "Practice."

She then turned and tossed him a shirt. "Try that on. Marlene got it for Cloud last Christmas, but it was too big for him. I'm hoping it'll fit you though."

Zack just shrugged and carefully put on the dark blue shirt. It was a little snug getting his head through the collar, but it was a comfortable fit. "Not bad. Not too snug, but not too loose either."

When they got downstairs they saw Cloud serving the kids breakfast. He was far from a master chef, but he wasn't a terrible cook, at least, when it came to scrambled eggs and bacon. Zack pouted as he placed his hands on his hips. "Hey, how come you didn't ring the cow bell? Those of us with mako need a healthy meal to start the day. You should know that, Spike."

The blonde warrior gave his friend a sideways glance before turning the bacon. "In this house the kids come first. They're still growing. Mako has nothing to do with it."

Zack pouted as Marlene smiled at him. "Don't worry Cloud's always grumpy in the mornings, come sit beside me!"

Zack smiled as he accepted her offer, "Why thank you, it's nice to know someone around here is polite, aside from Tifa of course."

The barmaid rolled her eyes before pouring herself some coffee. "Are you sure he's not a kid himself," she quietly asked Cloud who shrugged in response.

"I heard that," Zack replied while he waited for his turn.

"Depends," replied Cloud who didn't even try to whisper. "Maybe if he quits acting like a kid then he can have some coffee with the adults. If not I think there's still some juice left in the fridge."

Zack glared at his friend who the noticed the slight smirk the blonde was trying to hide. "Oh ha ha, have all the fun you want now. Just wait until I get back to full strength. That spiky hair looks like it could use a good noogie.

Cloud remained stoic as he set the bacon onto a plate. "Juice it is."

Zack was about to send another retort when Tifa set a mug of hot coffee in front of him and winked before turning to get onto her childhood friend. "Shame on you for giving him such a hard time, here he is injured and you're treating him this way? What has gotten into you Mr. Strife?"

Cloud turned and gave her a slightly hurt look. "Don't call me that."

"Then behave yourself or I'll put you in a timeout," she replied firmly as she took over the counter and shooed him to the table. "Honestly," she said to herself, "why I have to put up with these kids is beyond me."

Cloud was slightly pouting as he sat down at the table. He looked over at Denzel who had been smirking during the whole episode, but the boy averted his gaze and returned to enjoying his breakfast under the stern gaze of his guardian.

Marlene took a bite of her eggs and made a satisfied sound. "You make good eggs, Cloud, but you still use a little too much salt."

Cloud hummed a response as he cut a slice of bread and set the loaf back in the center while Tifa headed over to place the fresh plate of bacon and eggs for the adults before sitting down herself. They ate in silence for a bit until Zack couldn't take it anymore.

"So, where are we going," he asked as he looked over at Cloud.

"A couple places," was the reply.

"Is it somewhere I've been to before?"

"No and yes," came the second reply.

"What's that supposed to mean," asked Zack confused.

"You'll see," Cloud replied with a slightly annoyed sigh.

Zack just shrugged and dove headfirst into his meal. It was such a good feeling to eat normal, cooked food again, simple breakfast or not. He swore never to take simple things for granted ever again.

 _ **. . .**_

After Breakfast was finished and the table cleared Cloud motioned for Zack to follow and the two left. Zack burped as they entered the garage. "That was some good eatin'. I could get used to that sort of cooking." He stopped in the doorway and just stared. Leaning on the kickstand in front of him was the most beautiful machine he had ever laid his eyes on.

"What is _that?!_ "

Cloud looked at his ride with a fond smirk. "This is Fenrir. It's perfectly comfortable and suited for long trips, yet powerful. This bike is a beast on the road and can reach speeds up to 250 mph, plus it has good storage space."

"For your deliveries," asked Zack.

Cloud smirked as he reached for the trigger. "No, for this…"

He pushed it and Zack jumped back as the bike appeared to sprout wings. Once he recovered he took a closer look and saw the hidden compartments that held empty slots. Cloud saw his confused look and took First Tsurugi from his back and split it into separate blades before setting them in some of the slots.

The action dawned on Zack and the biggest smile grew on his face. "That is so awesome!"

"It works while driving too," the blonde replied. He wasn't much of a bragger, but it was an entirely different story when it came to Fenrir.

Zack moved his hand gently along the bike's rear rim. "I want one."

Cloud chuckled before closing the compartments. "Sorry, Fenrir's one of a kind, but I'm sure we can find you a decent one for the time being."

Zack blinked as he watched Cloud throw one leg over the bike and hurried to do the same. "Boy, this is a turnaround. Last time the two of us were on a bike it was me driving and you were the injured one."

"Times change," Cloud replied as he put on his goggles. "Now hold on tight." He turned the ignition and Fenrir roared to life as Cloud took off. The blonde nearly had the wind squeezed from his lungs as Zack hugged him tightly so he wouldn't fall off.

"You didn't need to go flying out of the gate Spiky," Zack shouted in his ear, but Cloud only smirked.

"That was tame compared to what Fenrir's done in the past. Without you on, I probably could have pulled a wheelie."

"Showoff," Zack grumbled as they tore down the road.

A few minutes on the road and Zack noticed they had entered a more rural part of the city. The road was more dirt than concrete and there were fewer people. Fenrir slowed as Cloud turned off the road and onto a dirt path. They rode by a few buildings before they pulled into a garage. It was a big garage which Zack would have guessed it was once an air hanger of some sort.

Cloud cut the engine and dismounted before pulling off his goggles. "Wade," he called out.

The sound of a wrench clinging to the floor echoed from the back as a creeper rolled out from underneath an old truck. "That you Cloud?" He got up and wiped his forehead with an old red rag before stuffing it in his pocket and approached them. Wade and Cloud shook hands before he clapped the blonde hard on the back. "Boy it's sure been a while since you last dropped by! You haven't put on any weight at all! Are ya eatin' alright?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "Looks like you're eating well."

The man looked down at his protruding middle and gawked, "Is it that easy to tell?" Both men broke out laughing before the older man wiped his forehead under his ball cap. "Nah, the misses always makes good food, especially her pies. There's a few of them to blame for this wide girth o'mine. But you didn't come here to shoot the breeze, what can I do for ya? Ol' Fenrir sounded pretty healthy pullin' up, so it can't be that."

Cloud looked over to Zack who had just stood back and watched the greeting play out with amusement. "Wade, this is my friend Zack. We go way back. Zack this is the best mechanic outside of Rocket town."

Zack extended his hand and Wade took it and gave the ex-SOLDIER a hearty handshake. "Please ta meet ya Zack. Any pal of Cloud's is a pal of mine. What can I hook you boys up with?"

Cloud smirked at his friend before answering Wade. "Do you have any operational motorcycles?"

Zack knew what Cloud was doing right then and turned to stare at him. "You can't mean…Cloud buddy, I can't accept this!"

The blonde warrior only shrugged. "You're going to work for me, right? You need some reliable transportation. Besides, it's the least I can do."

Zack was about to ask what his friend meant by that when Wade cut in. "Let me check the garage out back. I keep my best stuff and other pet projects in there. I'm sure I can find somethin'."

Cloud explored the garage as Zack stood there trying to figure out his friend's words. Twenty minutes passed before Wade returned pushing a bike along and when Zack saw it he nearly fell over.

"Here you are boys! She's not perfect and she'll need some extra care, but she'll do until I can build a better one."

"Build a better one? That's impossible. It's perfect!" Zack rushed over to the red bike which resembled the bike he had used to get himself and Cloud away from the Turks. It was missing the side car, but it didn't matter. "All she needs is a little spit and polish," Zack replied. He then looked over at Wade. "How much do I owe you?"

The older man shrugged, "Nothin', just doin' a friend a favor. Besides, it's the least I can do for someone who's always lending a helping hand and donating good parts."

"That's was a long time ago, Wade. I will pay you for this with the next pay check," Cloud replied.

"No, I will," Zack told him. "I'll use the money from my first pay check."

"Zack, this is a gift," Cloud tried to argue when Wade hushed them both up.

"Alright, that's enough. Neither of you owe me anything! Just quick bickerin' like a bunch of old hens and we'll call it even."

They chatted with Wade for a little while longer before heading back out on the road. Cloud still tried to promise to pay Wade, but the man would hear none of it. "Fine if you wanna pay me that bad then how about the next three deliveries are free? Sound good to you?"

Cloud finally agreed and promised the next five deliveries to be free of charge before Wade filled up the bike's tank with gas and waved farewell before they rode off.

 _ **. . .**_

They had ridden back through Edge and turned off on the old highway that led into the wastelands. Cloud slowed as he looked over at the cliffs as they kept driving. Zack followed his friend's gaze and saw the sight, knowing what he friend was looking at he slowed down and stopped. Cloud did the same and turned back to where Zack had stopped.

"Are you alright," Cloud asked his friend.

"It's just a bit surreal is all," Zack replied. "Years ago I died on that cliff and just a few days back I wake up there bleeding and…" he stopped and looked down in shame.

"And what," Cloud asked.

"And scared," Zack replied. "I've seen and felt many things in my life, mostly during my time as a Second and First Class SOLDIER, but I've never felt fear like that before. It wasn't for anyone I cared for, it wasn't for something stupid like failing or acting up, I was scared for myself. I had never felt fear like that before."

Cloud felt nothing but heartache for his friend, "Zack…"

"No, it's okay. Actually, if you hadn't been there it would have been much worse."

"How? I could barely move," the blonde replied.

"But you were _there_ , Cloud. I didn't die alone with no one to remember my name. I didn't die for nothing. Having you there gave me hope. That's why I was happy to pass the Buster Sword onto you and that of my honor and dreams. I finally understood how Angeal felt when he did the same to me. I couldn't begin to imagine how scared he felt. Deep down, underneath all the other emotions of betrayal and hurt and anger, there was fear and regret. Knowing what he knew, thinking about what he could have done, but realizing that it was too late. That's exactly how I felt in the end."

Cloud just listened to his friend. Finally after all the years of not knowing, he was finally learning what was going through his friend's mind when he left him hidden in the rocks.

"I'm sorry if you ever thought I had abandoned you," Zack told him to which Cloud shook his head.

"The thought never crossed my mind."

Zack turned to Cloud then, a serious expression on his face. "Be honest with me, what did you mean earlier when you told me it was the least you could do?"

"It's because I owe you my life. You could have easily avoided the Turks altogether and the waiting army if you had left me behind at any point of our escape. You could have even left me in Hojo's lab, but you didn't."

Zack held up his hand right there. "Cloud, get this through your spiky head. I would never leave anyone in that wacko's lab. Not you or anyone. And I have never and will never leave anyone behind. It doesn't matter if they're my best friend or just some average guy on the street. I don't leave people behind and I'd do it all over again if I had to. So, if you think you owe me and that nothing you do can ever repay me then stop right now, because you've done more than enough. Without hesitating you've given me a bike, helped treat my injuries," he saw the surprised look Cloud quickly hid. "See, even though I was in pain and had no idea who was helping me I could still hear and it's obvious to figure out it had to be you helping Tifa hold me still. Hell, you even gave me your bed! You're doing more than enough and now I'm asking you as a friend, if you never do anything else for me, just don't think you have to go on believing you have to repay me forever, because as far as I'm concerned we're even."

Zack extended his hand and gave Cloud a dead serious look. Cloud looked him in the eyes before reaching out his own and the two shook hands. "Alright, we're even."

Zack smirked, "Good, now let's get going to the next place. It's getting pretty hot out here."

Cloud nodded and the two revved up their bikes before continuing on to Midgar together and away from the cliff that had been a grave.

 _ **. . .**_

Thirty minutes later, after navigating through the debris and wreckage that was left over from both Meteor and Sephiroth's last attack, they arrived at the destination. Zack looked on in disbelief at the site that stood before him. "How did this place survive the collapse?"

"No one knows, we're just glad it did," Cloud replied as he headed up the steps, but stopped short. "Are you coming?"

Zack was off his bike and at his friend's side in a flash and the two climbed the steps of the old Sector 5 church. Cloud opened the door and stepped inside and Zack followed right behind. What greeted him was a sight that nearly brought him to tears, not that he would admit that to anyone.

One of the columns had fallen and some of the pews were broken and damaged, but aside from that it looked just the same. He looked towards the front and his heart stopped when he thought he saw Aerith kneeling there and tending to her flowers, but it was just a trick of the mind. As soon as he saw her, she was gone and in her place was a pond of clear water.

"Flood damage," asked Zack as he approached the water's edge.

Cloud shook his head. "Aerith's healing rain."

"The one that cured GeoStigma," asked Zack to which Cloud nodded.

"It collected here and still has healing properties. I come out here from time to time to check on it."

The light shimmered off the water's surface and caught Zack's eyes, causing him to blink and avert his gaze. What he saw then made his heart stop all over again. "Is that…the Buster Sword?"

On the other side of the pond was indeed Zack's beloved sword, stuck in the stone where Cloud had placed it.

Cloud watched as Zack approached it and looked it over. "I see you polished it. And there's hardly a scratch on it! He then looked closer and saw one deep scar along the blade. "Hey, where'd this mark come from?"

Cloud joined him and gave his friend an apologetic look. "I worked on trying to fix that for three days, but Masamune always leaves deep scars."

"Masamune," asked Zack, but one look at Cloud told him everything as the blonde was holding his hand over his middle. He could still feel the ghost wounds the blade had given him.

"Sephiroth," Zack concluded. "Don't worry about it. I think those two blades were meant to clash, even though they once belonged to friends."

Cloud looked over at Zack and nudged him. "Take it."

Zack turned to fully face him. "Excuse me?"

"The Buster Sword never really belonged to me; at least that's how I've always felt about it. I was merely keeping it safe and acting as a replacement for who it was truly meant for."

"Cloud, I gave it to you, it's yours. I'm not about to take it back."

Cloud shook his head. "I already have First Tsurugi and it's more than enough."

"But, you could dual-wield," offered Zack.

"First Tsurugi can do that too. You saw how easily I can take it apart. Each blade by itself is a perfectly effective weapon on its own. It's known as a Fusion Sword."

Cloud placed a strong hand on his friend's shoulder. "Zack, The Buster Sword has been a lifesaver. It helped me defeat Sephiroth when Meteor hung over the skies of Midgar, but I can't use it anymore. Ever since that last battle it's been a symbol to remind me of the friend I lost. I had it placed at the cliff and that did nothing but remind me of my failures and dishonor. I nearly ruined it by letting it rust away."

Zack huffed at his own distant memory. "Use brings wear, tear and rust."

"What," asked Cloud?

"It's something Angeal always said. He always carried Buster Sword around, but he only used it once and it was to save my life. When I asked him why he used it he said: _'You're a little more important than my sword'._ "

Cloud nodded in understanding and looked Zack in the eye. "I mean it Zack. I want you to have it back, and I'm not taking no for an answer. Your honor and your dreams are your own and so is that blade. Besides, you need a weapon to defend yourself and I can think of no better sword than Buster."

Zack looked hard into his friend's eyes before giving in. "Fine, I'll take it back, but I'm only using it. As far as I'm concerned it still belongs to you pal."

The blonde rolled his eyes as he stepped back, but he was glad he had more or less won the battle of wills.

Zack grasped the hilt and let out a deep, calming sigh. He hadn't realized until now how good it felt to grip the sword's handle once again. It felt like reuniting with an old friend. Summoning his strength, Zack tried to pull the sword free, but it wouldn't budge. Either Cloud was much stronger than him or he didn't have his full strength back yet, which Zack hoped was the latter. He pulled until he felt his muscles strain, but he felt something else strain before that. He ignored the pain and kept pulling.

Cloud watched with concern, wondering if he should have pulled the weapon out for him, but he wasn't about to step on his friend's pride.

Zack grabbed the hilt with both hands and pulled as hard as he could, letting out a roar as he used every ounce of strength he had. The sword budged a little and then pulled free. Zack stumbled back and his foot splashed into the edge of the pond. He was panting, but the sword was free, laying loosely in his grip. He smiled as he stood up and swung it in the air.

"It definitely feels good to wield a sword again," he commented as he smiled at the blade. He could feel the memories flowing from the blade and pouring into him. Every time he and the Buster Sword went into battle: The victories, the losses and all the other emotions in between. Finally Zack felt whole again.

He also felt sudden pain. Clutching his chest he leaned heavily on his sword, breathing hard. Cloud was at his side in an instant.

"Zack," he shouted with worry.

"My chest," he replied. "I think I reopened my wound."

Cloud saw Zack's shirt turn from dark blue to purple as the blood flowed. It was bad and Cloud had no healing items or materia on him at the moment. Suddenly the water shimmered and caught his eye giving him the solution.

"Hold your breath," he told Zack causing the warrior to give him a confused look before Cloud shoved him backwards into the pond. Zack went under and took in more water than air as he sank.

The water was so clear it was easy to see the blood as it flowed and spread under the waves. Zack hit the bottom which wasn't very deep and went to try and stand to get a better gulp of air when his vision became blurry and his eyes refused to focus. He felt something grab him from behind and it startled him, forcing him to release what little air he had. He saw the green tendrils of the Lifestream as they circled around him as the underwater world went dark. Zack began to panic, afraid that he was dying when the darkness shifted and he was in a white void, sitting on a patch of flowers. He felt someone sitting behind him and the presence felt so warm and familiar that he found himself fighting back tears.

Suddenly a female voice started humming a Gongagan tune and he did shed tears then.

"Aerith," he choked.

"It'll be lonely here without you," she replied.

"What do you mean," he asked.

"Of course I understand," she replied as if not hearing him.

"Well I don't, what's going on," he tried again

"And we can't have that can we," she continued on.

"Aerith, if this is about what happened before I died, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you," he replied.

"You know what's going to happen when you wake up. It'll take all your strength to get you there, but I have faith in you."

Zack sighed and turned to face her. "Aerith, I-" but he stopped when she reached up and kissed him. Suddenly he felt a surge of life flow through him and he caught a glimpse of the stormy afternoon sky with rain pouring down on him and booming thunder echoing overhead before he heard another voice calling to him.

"Zack! Zack! Damn it, come on!"

Zack opened his eyes and coughed up the water he had swallowed. Cloud moved back as his friend sat up choking and let out a relieved sigh.

Once the warrior had recovered from nearly drowning he looked around and saw he was back in the church. Looking over to his right he saw that Cloud was also soaking wet. "What happened?"

"When you didn't resurface I went in and found you unconscious on the bottom. I was um…getting ready to do CPR, but you recovered on your own."

Zack was thankful for that, not that it'd bother him if his friend had to save his life. After all, Zack had to perform CPR on him a few times when they were on the run during Cloud's weakest times.

"Did it work," he asked.

Cloud nodded, "See for yourself."

Zack looked down and smiled when his previously bleeding chest wound was now no more than a fresh scar. "Wow, this water's really something."

Cloud nodded and stood up before extending his arm to help Zack who accepted it. He looked back at the water and tried to remember what Aerith had said, but the memory was fuzzy at best. It was like trying to recall an elusive dream. All he knew was that he and Aerith had spoken before he came back to life, but what was she talking about? And what had he said? It was a complete mystery to him.


	4. Mission Impossible

_Well, hello there everyone. I know it's been a while, especially for this story. The plot I originally had didn't pan out like I hoped it would, so I redid it from scratch, except for the beginning since it's already solid. Hurricane Irma was a mean bully, but I came through it just fine. I only lost power for two days and Dealt with a sleepless night when she was coming through, but other than that I'm totally fine. ^_^_

 _I even got three days off work, which is partly why this update exists. It is a little shorter than other chapters, but I wanted to have a good starting point for the next one. This one is a bit more humorous than others, but meh I tried. Hopefully you don't mind my weird comedy. xD_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Their mission was a difficult one. Neither of them could afford to fail, but it couldn't be avoided. The odds were against them, but there was no getting around it. Cloud and Zack, not wanting to alert the hostiles that they were there had cut their engines a couple hundred feet away from the compound and walked them the rest of the way.

The lock was simple enough to get past when they made it to the garage and Zack did a masterful job of closing the large door silently behind them.

Cloud opened the door leading to the main building just enough to peek through it before he deemed it clear. With a 'move out' hand gesture he crept forward with the ravenette keeping close behind.

So far so good.

They had made it through the main area and were aiming for the small room towards the back, but they had to cross trough dangerous territory to get there. Being careful of the tables, they kept their heads down, focusing all their attention on avoiding the floorboards that would give them away and make noise.

Their goal was finally in sight when a light turned on behind them.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Mission _failed._

Cloud turned to face his opponent with his head held high…at least until he met the stern gaze of a very tired Tifa Lockhart.

"We were quiet getting in," Zack tried to offer support, but the glare was turned on him and he shrunk back a little.

"I'll get to you in a minute." She then looked back at Cloud. "Well?"

Cloud scratched the back of his neck, trying to think of a good reason. "I did say we'd be back late."

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Oh don't even try that one. Late is eleven at night. You're actually early." She pointed to the clock on the wall and it didn't take mako-enhanced eyes to see it was after two in the morning.

Zack decided to try and flex his backbone a bit. "Can't you cut him some slack? I mean, how many times did he save the world? Besides, he's a grown man."

She turned the mother of all glares on him and it took Zack every ounce of willpower he had not to cower behind Cloud.

"I had to help the kids with their homework, make sure they got fed, sent them to bed, all while tending to the bar _AND_ I took care of arranging all your delivery slips for tomorrow."

She revealed that she had her fighting gloves on which only added to the intimidation. Tifa was angry and she meant business.

"I'm sorry Tifa," Cloud tried.

"Not good enough. You can sleep on the couch tonight. And _you!"_

She rounded on Zack then and poked him in the chest. It was then that she noticed something wasn't right. She looked down at his shirt and her eyes went wide. "What the hell happened?!"

She saw the large blood stain on his shirt and rushed off to find a first aid kit before either of them could explain. When she came back the box in her hands was already open and a glowing restore materia was glowing in her palm.

Zack held his hand out to stop her.

"It's okay, really look!"

He lifted up his shirt to reveal no wound, only a thin scar remained. Tifa traced it gently with her hand. "How?" she looked over at Cloud who shrugged his shoulders.

"We were at the church when it reopened, so I…" he looked away, embarrassed.

"He thought I could use a bath," Zack finished with a grin. "I was pretty sweaty after the ride out there. He even jumped in after me."

Tifa sighed as the materia dimmed in her hand and she clipped the box back closed. "I need a vacation. All this stress is too much."

Cloud blinked wordlessly at her before Zack got his attention and motioned with his head that he should say something. It took him a second before he got the hint.

"Where would you like to go? I know we talked about traveling a few days back."

"That's such a long trip though. I don't want to leave the bar for that long."

"We could always have someone else watch the bar," he suggested.

Tifa just gave him a deadpan look. "And which one of our friends is qualified to run it?"

Cloud had to think that over for a bit. Yuffie was not only too immature, but he didn't trust her with such a large supply of liquor. Cid was out of the question because they needed him to pilot the Highwind. Barret would scare everyone away as he had in the past and Nanaki was well…Nanaki. The sad part was he was most likely the most reliable one of the names he thought of.

"What about Vincent and Shelke?"

The three turned to the new voice which had a thick accent and saw the robotic cat emerge from window. "Cait," Tifa said, "What brings you here at this time of night?"

"Just relaying some findings that the boss discovered to help out a friend," he replied as he turned to Cloud and handed him a disc. "Reeve thought you'd like to see the crazy readings for yourself."

"What readings," asked Tifa.

"Energy from the Lifestream. It's collecting in the north."

"How far north," Cloud's tone had a low growl to it and both Zack and Tifa could feel a black cloud growing above him.

Cait blinked in a comical way and waved his hands defensively in front of him. "Oh, no! no no no, it's not what you're thinking! Calm down. It's pure energy from the lifestream itself. It's gathering in the lost city of the ancients."

"The Forgotten City," Cloud asked.

The robot cat nodded vigorously. "Yes!"

Cloud and Tifa exchanged looks before both looking towards Zack who blinked in turn. "What?"

"You don't think…" asked Tifa.

"It's worth checking out," Cloud replied.

"But who will manage the bar," asked Tifa.

"I can arrange that," Cait offered.

"Well…I don't know…" the barmaid reluctantly replied.

Cloud however felt more confident. "Tifa, it's Reeve we're talking about. He's nothing if not capable of finding someone qualified to run the bar for a few days."

"But your deliveries," she countered. "You've got four runs to make for tomorrow and one will take you out to Costa Del Sol! I tried telling him no, but the man offered a good amount for the job."

Cloud just smiled good-naturedly at her. "Tifa, we have an airship. It'll be fine. If it makes you feel better I'll ask Cid if he wouldn't mind making a few pit stops."

The barmaid was annoyed that for once Cloud had won the argument, but she blamed it on the late hour and the fact that she was fighting to stay awake. Light snoring alerted her towards the table where Zack had snuck away to rest his head and nod off. She slapped him on the shoulder, jolting him awake.

"Huh, wh-what?!"

She pointed upstairs, "Bedtime mister. We're getting up early tomorrow."

Zack pouted, trying to invoke the pull power of his kicked-puppy look. "Aww, five more minutes, mommy?"

"I'm not your mother I'm your strict nurse! Now get upstairs and start countin' sheep before I make you count the stars above your head!"

"Y-yes ma'am," he replied before bolting upstairs, exchanging a look with his friend as he passed.

"I'll just go find a quiet spot to power down for the night and see you in the morning," Cait replied before heading off towards the living room leaving the two childhood friends alone.

Tifa yawned before turning and heading to bed herself. Cloud followed her up the stairs and made it to the doorway of her bedroom when a pillow hit him square in the face.

"I told you already, you're on the couch tonight," she grouched.

"Are you serious? After what just happened, you're still mad," asked the stunned blonde.

Tifa approached him and poked him in the chest. "Cloud Strife, I'm still mad at you for slipping a frog into my teacup when we were kids."

"That was years ago! And I was seven!"

"You were old enough to know better," she replied.

"So this is to get back at me for that?"

Tifa chuckled, "oh no. I already got you back for that one. Remember when you had that yellow feather duster super-glued to the seat of your pants?"

"That was you?! I thought one of the other kids did that." Cloud remembered that nightmare of a day when everyone in town laughed at him and he didn't realize why until one of the feathers came loose and he realized too late why people kept saying that he ' _really_ looked like a chocobo today'.

Tifa smirked as she folded her arms, blocking the doorway. "See I can hold a grudge long enough to carry out the perfect revenge. Fortunately you happen to be an ally. Had you been an enemy you'd get your rear handed to you. You kept me so busy tonight I didn't get any time to myself. So, in return you can't have the comfort of a nice soft bed."

Cloud sighed in defeat. It was clear there was no getting through to her. "Fine, whatever."

He turned and headed downstairs as she closed the door. Tossing the pillow on the couch he headed to the closet to look for a blanket. He grumbled as he laid down and got comfortable. Cait Sith snickered from his place on the chair in the corner.

"Shut your toy down Reeve, unless you want to spend money building a new one."

The robot's head slumped downward as it went into sleep mode.

The next morning the bar/house was a hive of activity. The kids were busy packing, Zack was helping Tifa and Cloud was getting in touch with their friends letting them know what was going on. Cid was swearing as usual and he sounded a little irritated, but he agreed to give them a lift. They had almost everything set when Zack heard someone knocking at the door.

He opened it and gave the people standing outside an apologetic smile. "Sorry folks, we're closed today. Come back in a few days."

One of the men scratched his head, confused. "This is the right place, isn't it? Seventh Heaven bar? We got orders to help run the place while the owners were away."

"Run the place," asked Zack.

The man nodded. "Just enlighten me, from one bouncer to another, how rough does the crowd get during sport events?"

The spiky-haired warrior turned and called out, "Tifa, I need you over here for a sec!"

The barmaid headed towards the door and sighed. "Honestly Zack, is it that hard for you to turn people away?" She then looked at the group standing there. "I'm sorry, we're dealing with an emergency right now and will have the bar closed for a few days."

"But ma'am, we were hired to run the place while you were gone. Mr. Tuesti sent us."

"Reeve," she asked before turning to Cloud who had just come back in from the kitchen door after yet another call. "Cloud do you know anything about this?"

Cloud flipped his phone closed as he gave her a look. "I tried to tell you last night, but you were waist deep in a lecture about paybacks that I never got the chance."

Cloud felt the death glare strike his heart as he looked back over at Tifa. She then turned and opened the doors. "Well if Reeve sent you to help then I don't see why not. Just don't go upstairs. That's the living areas."

The group sent to help consisted of three barmaids, two bouncers, a cook, a head chef and two managers. Tifa was secretly impressed with the professional way they carried themselves.

She gave them a tour around the bar showing where the supplies were and how everything should be properly set up and managed. Cloud was in the garage grabbing a couple cases of sword polish for the trip when Tifa entered to show the cook and one of the barmaids where the backup wine cooler was. The cook couldn't help but let his eyes wander and Cloud saw the way his eyes sparkled when he saw the warrior's workshop. "Tifa, make sure they don't touch anything they're not supposed to."

He eyed the man coldly before heading out of the garage and back towards his office. The cook swallowed thickly as he tried to recover from the death glare. Tifa sighed and shook her head. "Yes, please don't touch anything on that side of the room. Cloud's very picky about his things."

"Wait, that guy's really him, the man who killed the one-winged angel?"

Tifa nodded. "That's him, but he hates talking about it, so please don't bring it up."

"Why? He's a legend!" The substitute barmaid looked at the cook with annoyance. "Stop being such a nerd. That's not why we're here. Or did you forget you'll be stuck in the kitchen the whole time?"

The man deflated a bit but Tifa couldn't help but give him a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. We'll be back in less than a week. We appreciate the help."

It helped to butter him up a little and he nodded his thanks.

Meanwhile Zack had been with the kids as they packed. He hardly had anything to pack aside from the Buster Sword, and that was easy enough to strap to his back. It was a learning experience as he listened to Denzel talking about what he planned to do once he was old enough. "I was going to become a mercenary," the boy commented as he tried to force his suitcase closed. "I overheard that's what Cloud had been before he joined AVALANCHE, but then I learned about the company Mr. Reeve manages and I decided I want to join the WRO instead. They help people and train to be strong. I want to learn to fight and protect those I care about and I figure that's the best way to do it."

Zack shook his head as he helped the kid push the case closed and locked it. "I admire your ambition, and if you wanna join the WRO it sounds like a good idea, but you're still just a kid. Enjoy your childhood while it lasts and have some fun."

"How old were you when you joined SOLDIER," asked Marlene.

Zack scratched the back of his head. "I was fourteen, but I was also reckless. My parents didn't want me to go, so I ran away. I wanted to make a name for myself and not get stuck in my hometown like everyone else did."

"But Tifa says you should never run away from home or your problems," Marlene complained.

Zack shamefully nodded, "and she's right. After I made it into SOLDIER I sent them a check every month to help with stuff and to apologize."

Marlene gave him a pouty face as she placed her hands on her hips. "That's no apology. That's just trying to bribe them not to be mad at you."

Zack slumped forward and sighed in defeat. "You're right. I'm just being a coward."

Denzel sat down next to him. "Have you ever thought about going back and making it right?"

"I want to, but I don't have a gil to my name right now. It'll have to wait until I can earn some."

"Well, we are going on an airship, why not make a small side stop," suggested Marlene.

"It'd be nice, but it'd take us out of the way. Gongaga's south of here and we're headed north. Besides, I'd rather handle it on my own."

"I don't understand," she replied. "I'm sure Cloud and Tifa wouldn't mind if you asked them."

Zack smiled at her. "That's the thing. They've already done enough for me. It's about time I started paying them back and not burdening them with selfish requests is a good start. My parents have waited for years; they can wait a little longer. Besides whatever's up north sounds important if they're willing to drop everything and head there. I mean Tifa's pretty busy with her bar and Spiky made it pretty clear he's got a great business going. I'm not about to make the trip longer then it has to be."

"We'll save it for the return trip then," Tifa told him.

The three looked towards the open door and saw her standing there.

"No, I couldn't bother you guys with that," Zack told her.

Tifa gave him an odd look. "Were you always like this? You're not an inconvenience if that's what you think."

"Even after I drove you crazy wanting to help," he asked.

Tifa giggled. "I'm used to that. All the times our teammates would get injured and yet they still wanted to fight. Barret and Cid were the worst! Always insisting they were fine or they were just winded, playing off gashes and broken bones like they were nothing. Aerith and I got plenty of practice mastering our cure materia."

At the mention of Aerith Zack's good mood faltered. Tifa sensed it as well and rubbed her shoulder. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought her up."

"No, it's okay. I'm glad she finally was able to see the world. We talked about it a lot, but she was afraid of the open sky. I think she was afraid of being swallowed up by something so vast and open. It sounds like she got over that fear though, so…I want to thank you…for that."

Tifa smiled. "She definitely made the journey a great experience. Which reminds me…" She headed out of the room leaving the others confused. Zack looked to the kids who shrugged in return.

Two minutes later Cloud poked his head into the room. "Hey, I just got off the phone with Cid and he said he'd meet us outside of the city since there's no decent place to land. We'll have to ride out to meet him. I'm going to load some stuff onto Fenrir and you might want to check on your ride and make sure everything's in working order. Wade doesn't sell bad quality merchandise, but it's not exactly in perfect working order either."

Zack chuckled, remembering the ride they took yesterday. "Yeah, you heard that weird clunking noise too, eh?"

Cloud nodded and headed out of the room. Zack stretched and followed behind while the kids finished packing.

Another hour went by as the two men worked on their motorcycles. Zack, tinkering and tweaking here and there plus changing the oil while Cloud worked on hooking up the custom trailer that he had made to help with larger deliveries. It was perfect for traveling with their luggage. Tifa entered the garage and approached Zack who was wiping his forehead with a sweat rag. He looked down at the pink ribbon she was holding.

"What's that for?"

"Everyone in our group wears one. It's our way of honoring Aerith's memory I thought you'd like one too."

Zack looked at her right arm and saw her ribbon before seeing the one on Cloud's arm. "Everyone in your group has one?"

Tifa nodded.

Zack smiled as he accepted the ribbon. "Thanks. That really means a lot." He smiled proudly as he tied the ribbon to his arm to match the others. He could feel the warm sting of tears as they tried to form, but he forced them back. This wasn't the time, even if they were bittersweet.

"Okay," he said once the ribbon was secured properly. "I think that should do it." He turned the ignition and revved it up. The bike sputtered a bit before it began to purr. Zack's smile beamed. "That's more like it!"

"I'll go get the kids, it sounds like we're about ready to leave," said Tifa.

Cloud waited for her to leave before he spoke. "Hey Zack, after we get settled in the air ship there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"Why not now, you know I don't bite Spiky," he replied.

"You'll find out once we get there," was his answer.

It made Zack more than a little curious, but he respected his friend's wish and said nothing more on the matter.


End file.
